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Mark Kastelic

East Notes: Bruins, Greaves, Cousins, Penguins

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The Bruins are shutting down defenseman Charlie McAvoy and center Mark Kastelic for the final week of the season, relays Boston.com’s Conor Ryan (Twitter link).  Interim head coach Joe Sacco indicated that both players are making progress from their respective injuries but will run out of time before the year comes to an end.  McAvoy has missed the last two months with a shoulder injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off; his year comes to an end with just 23 points in 50 games, the lowest point total of his eight-year NHL career.  As for Kastelic, he has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body issue.  He finishes with a career-best 14 points in 61 games while chipping in with 128 hits, earning him a three-year, $4.7MM extension in early January.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • With Elvis Merzlikins unavailable for tonight’s must-win game against Buffalo, the Blue Jackets announced the recall of Jet Greaves from AHL Cleveland on an emergency basis. The 24-year-old has been up with Columbus several times this season, posting a 2.83 GAA and a .905 SV% in six outings heading into today’s action.  He has a 2.62 GAA and a .910 SV% in 40 games with the Monsters and with Daniil Tarasov struggling, Greaves got the start against the Sabres.
  • Senators winger Nick Cousins was a full participant in practice today and hasn’t been ruled out of Friday’s game against Montreal, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Originally expected to miss at least three months after suffering a knee injury in late January, it looks like the 31-year-old will be able to beat that by a couple of weeks at least.  Ottawa will have to make a roster move in order to activate Cousins off LTIR as they don’t have the cap space to add him back to the roster otherwise.  Cousins has 13 points and 80 hits in 47 games this season.
  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that forwards Noel Acciari, Blake Lizotte, Rutger McGroarty, Matthew Nieto, and Thomas Novak are all being shut down for the final few games of the season. Those players being out provide the context for the three players Pittsburgh recalled earlier today.  Of the absences, McGroarty is the most notable as he had been given a bigger role since being recalled late last month, logging over 16 minutes a night while playing on the top line as the Penguins hoped to give one of their top prospects a good look down the stretch but that look winds up being shorter than expected.

Atlantic Notes: Sacco, Marchand, Kastelic, Jensen

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The Boston Bruins may be in the market for another head coach this summer. In a wide-ranging article about the team’s season, Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe claims the Bruins will likely move on from Joe Sacco this offseason although they’ll want to keep him in a different role on the staff.

In his first head coaching role since his time with the Colorado Avalanche in the early 2010s, Saccos’ Bruins have managed a 22-22-6 record in 50 games. Boston shipped away significant pieces at the trade deadline and appeared poised for their first top 10 draft selection since picking Dougie Hamilton with the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.

Dupont believes Sacco’s future with the organization in a different role hinges on whether General Manager Don Sweeney and President Cam Neely retain their positions beyond this season. They want to reward Sacco’s loyalty to the organization for the last 11 years but there’s no guarantee they’ll be around to make that decision after a difficult season.

Other notes from the NHL’s Atlantic Division:

  • Despite being acquired by the team two weeks ago, Brad Marchand has yet to debut with the Florida Panthers. It shouldn’t be too long as Tom Gulitti of NHL.com passed along a note from Panthers’ head coach Paul Maurice saying Marchand should only be a week away from returning. Florida has a light schedule throughout the next week so Marchand may only miss two or three more games. That would allow him to play in the Panthers’ final nine or 10 games of the regular season should his recovery process continue in the right direction.
  • Moving back to eastern Massachusetts, Jim McBride of The Boston Globe reported that Bruins’ forward Mark Kastelic has returned to Boston due to an upper-body injury and will miss the rest of the team’s road trip. Given that their current road trip extends past next week, the news likely ends Kastelic’s availability for the rest of March. The bottom-six forward is enjoying the highest-scoring season of his career with five goals and 14 points in 61 games, leading to a three-year, $4.7MM extension with Boston in January.
  • The Ottawa Senators could have an important right-handed defenseman back in the lineup tonight when they take on the New Jersey Devils. After missing the last three games with a lower-body injury, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Nick Jensen has been elevated to a game-time decision. Jensen would be an important player to get back into the lineup as the Senators look to correct their two-game losing streak and keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Boston Bruins To Activate Mark Kastelic, Reassign Vinni Lettieri

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The Boston Bruins’ remaining injured forward will return tonight. Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal reported that forward Mark Kastelic will be activated ahead of tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild. According to Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, the Bruins have reassigned Vinni Lettieri to make room on their active roster.

Injuries have again prohibited Kastelic from a complete season in the NHL. The career bottom-six talent has only amassed a career-high of 65 games in the regular season although he could finish with slightly higher than that this year if he remains healthy.

Due to a lower-body injury toward the beginning of the season, an upper-body injury that lost him two weeks in early January, and his recent undisclosed injury, Kastelic has already lost nine games this year due to various ailments. He has achieved a career-high in points during his first year with the Bruins, scoring four goals and totaling 13 points in 45 games.

The only other additional improvement in his game has been his physicality. Kastelic was already a physical forward, throwing 280 body checks throughout his last two years as an Ottawa Senators. Meanwhile, in Boston, he’s already thrown 175 hits on the year, well above his 2.2 hits-per-game average with the Senators.

On the other side of the transaction, Lettieri heads back to join the AHL’s Providence Bruins after an eight-game stretch in the NHL. Over the past two years, he received more ice time than usual in the game’s top league, scoring two goals and averaging 12:05 per game.

He’ll continue with his fruitful season in the AHL for now. Lettieri has historically been a major offensive threat in the AHL when healthy and has shown that again this year, scoring 14 goals and 35 points in 35 games.

Bruins Place Mark Kastelic On IR; Recall Patrick Brown, Max Jones

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Bruins depth forward Mark Kastelic’s return to the lineup was short-lived. The 25-year-old is back on injured reserve today after he was activated Saturday, per a team announcement. The move gave Boston two open roster spots, which they promptly used to recall forwards Patrick Brown and Max Jones from Providence in corresponding transactions.

Kastelic sustained an upper-body injury against the Lightning on Jan. 9 that sidelined him for two games. Given Boston’s light schedule this month, that was enough for an IR placement. He returned against the Senators, his former team, but did not play in the third period of Monday’s win over the Sharks. It’s not clear when he sustained the new injury or whether it’s a recurrence of his previous upper-body issue.

The 6’4″ pivot has four goals and a career-high 13 points in 45 games with the Bruins this season, his first in Boston after they acquired him from Ottawa in last summer’s Linus Ullmark blockbuster. His emergence as a high-end fourth-line center landed him a three-year, $4.7MM extension earlier this month, keeping him off 2025’s restricted free-agent market.

Kastelic’s 175 hits lead the Bruins, and his 55.1% faceoff percentage is second on the team behind John Beecher among Boston skaters with at least 100 draws. His 11:11 average time on ice is a career-high, although he remains uninvolved on either special teams unit.

The Bruins are now down two-thirds of their usually effective fourth line. Winger Cole Koepke has missed the last two contests with an upper-body injury and landed on injured reserve over the weekend.

Brown and Jones come up as reinforcements for the injured pair ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Devils. At least one will enter the lineup with Kastelic out, although Koepke will technically be eligible to return and Trent Frederic may be an option after missing the San Jose tilt with an illness.

Brown, 32, last suited up for the Bruins on Nov. 14 in what remains his only NHL appearance in 2024-25. The right-shot center is in the back half of a two-year, $1.6MM contract that he’s mostly spent collecting a one-way paycheck in the minors, where he has 20 goals, 37 assists, 57 points and a +20 rating in 79 games for Providence since the beginning of 2023-24. He was anointed captain of the P-Bruins this year, the third AHL franchise where he’s held the honor, and ranks third on the team in scoring with 25 points through 37 games.

Jones, 26, hasn’t panned out after inking a two-year, $2MM contract in free agency last summer. The 2016 first-rounder started the season on the Bruins’ roster, but he hit waivers and cleared them in November after posting a minus-four rating and no points through four appearances and routinely sitting in the press box.

The longtime Ducks depth winger has 11 points in 26 games with Providence, his first minor-league action since the 2019-20 campaign. The 6’3″, 216-lb winger was shelled defensively for a 29.7 CF% and a whopping 6.7 GA/60 at even strength in his quartet of NHL appearances early in the year.

As for Kastelic, the IR placement rules him out of the Bruins’ next three games. He’ll be eligible for activation ahead of their game against the Sabres on Jan. 28.

Bruins Notes: Kastelic, Lindholm, Koepke

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The Boston Bruins received a handful of injury updates at Friday morning’s practice. Most pressing, winger Mark Kastelic returned to full practices and could possibly return to the lineup when the Bruins visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. In a video posted on the team’s social media, Kastelic told media after practice that he’s hoping to return, but doesn’t want to rush anything. Kastelic has missed Boston’s last two games with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve on January 14th.

This is already Kastelic’s second injury of the season. He previously missed three days with a lower-body injury in November. He has been a key piece of Boston’s third line when healthy, recording 12 points in 43 games and averaging 11:19 in ice time this season. Kastelic is in his first season with the Bruins, after joining the team in the trade that sent Linus Ullmark to Ottawa. The change of scenery came with a boosted role – bumping Kastelic up after three years on Ottawa’s fourth-line. He’s clearly satisfied the Bruins’ expectations, earning a three-year, $4.7MM extension with the club earlier this month. Kastelic fell to injury just a few games after signing that deal, meaning a return from injury will mean a return to vindicating his new price tag.

In other Bruins news, top defender Hampus Lindholm returned to practice in a non-contact jersey on Friday, shares Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal. Lindholm has missed Boston’s last 29 games after he suffered a lower-body injury on November 12th. He was one of the Bruins’ most-utilized defenders in November, averaging 22:44 in ice time in his last four games before injury. Lindholm also managed seven points in 17 games, putting him on pace for 34 points across 82 games before he fell for the long-term. That total would have stood as the third-highest scoring season of Lindholm’s 12-year career. This news marks one step closer to Lindholm working back into the role of routine scoring and top-pair minutes.

Finally, Haggerty shared that forward Cole Koepke won’t play in the team’s Saturday game, per head coach Joe Sacco. Koepke sustained an injury with 10 minutes left in Boston’s Tuesday win over Tampa Bay, after taking a big hit from Bolts defenseman Darren Raddysh. Koepke immediately left for the locker room. Raddysh did not receive a penalty on the play. Koepke has so far been designated as day-to-day, though no specifics of his injury have been revealed. He’s also rotated through Boston’s middle-six this season, netting 12 points in 44 games while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time each game. This is Koepke’s first full season on an NHL lineup, after combining for three points in 26 games with Tampa Bay over the last two seasons.

Bruins Recall Matthew Poitras, Place Charlie McAvoy On IR

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Bruins center prospect Matthew Poitras is at the team’s morning skate on Tuesday, per Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, indicating he’s been recalled from AHL Providence. The team quickly made Poitras’ recall official, announcing that they’ve also recalled defenseman Michael Callahan from Providence and placed No. 1 blue-liner Charlie McAvoy on injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment. Center Mark Kastelic, who’s already missed a game with an upper-body injury, landed on IR to create a necessary roster spot. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who’s been out since Nov. 12 with a lower-body injury, was moved from IR to LTIR to open up the required salary cap flexibility.

It’s quite a lot of gameday news for Boston, which risks falling out of playoff position with a loss to the Lightning tonight. They’ve already dropped to 11th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage after a 3-6-1 skid in their last 10, but they remain ahead of their competitors in the standings because they’ve played two or three more games than each of their challengers. They could be leapfrogged by the Blue Jackets and Senators if both those clubs win their games tonight against the Flyers and Islanders, respectively.

Poitras is expected to center the third line in his first NHL game in over two months, per Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic. Veteran Charlie Coyle will likely sit but is a game-time decision due to illness, head coach Joe Sacco told Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal.

Selected 54th overall in 2022, the 20-year-old Poitras unexpectedly forced his way onto the Bruins’ roster last season with a standout training camp and emerged as a legitimate top-nine option, recording 15 points in 33 games before surgery on his right shoulder ended his season in January. This year, he dealt with an undisclosed injury for much of camp and managed four points in 14 games upon his return before Boston sent him down to Providence for additional development.

Poitras has been quite good in his first taste of AHL action, logging eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 23 games with the P-Bruins. It’s unclear if Boston intends to keep him around after Coyle and Kastelic are healthy again, but nonetheless, it’s a strong sign that the Ontario native is still on track to be a long-term contributor at the NHL level.

Callahan, 25, is expected to serve as a healthy scratch while Parker Wotherspoon enters the lineup, but he’ll be on hand as an extra if anyone sustains a last-minute injury. The 6’2″ lefty has no NHL experience to his name but is now in his fourth season with Providence, where he has six points and a plus-one rating in 35 showings while serving as an alternate captain.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft by the Coyotes, Boston acquired his signing rights in a 2022 trade shortly before the Massachusetts native was set to wrap up his collegiate career at Providence. He’s set to test the open market this summer as he’s due to be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency.

Kastelic’s and Lindholm’s moves are purely procedural, but McAvoy’s IR placement is a surprise. Sacco told Haggerty that the star blue-liner has been “dealing with a nagging injury” and will be shut down for at least a week to see how it responds. He’ll be eligible to return next Monday against the Sharks, ruling him out for two games at least.

McAvoy, 27, is having the worst season of his career offensively, with 20 points through 45 games. His 0.44 points-per-game rate is the first time he’s tracking under 0.5 through his eight-year career, although his even-strength possession numbers have improved to a 51.2 CF% after last year’s underwhelming 48.6% mark.

His offensive regression has come hand in hand with Boston’s limping power play, which is finishing at just a 13.2% clip more than halfway through the season. That’s third-worst in the league, ahead of only the fledgling Ducks and Islanders.

Bruins Sign Mark Kastelic To Three-Year Extension

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The Bruins signed depth forward Mark Kastelic to a three-year, $4.7MM extension on Friday, according to a team release. The deal carries a $1.57MM cap hit and keeps him in Boston through the 2027-28 campaign.

With the signing, Kastelic earns the most lucrative contract of his career and will earn seven figures per season for the first time. The 25-year-old was in the final season of a two-year, $1.67MM extension he signed with the Senators in 2022 before they traded him to the Bruins in the Linus Ullmark deal last June.

The Phoenix native has been a good fit in Boston, already setting a new career-high in assists with seven through 39 games. His 11 points are also tied with his previous career high, set in Ottawa in 65 games in 2022-23, and he’s averaging a career-best 11:27 per game while winning 55.2% of his faceoffs.

Kastelic, a natural center, stands at 6’4″ and 227 lbs and has been one of the league’s most physical players. He leads the league outright with 76 PIMs and ranks second with 151 hits, on pace to record a whopping 317 over a full season.

That physicality has led to some pretty spectacular defensive numbers for Kastelic. He’s centered a fourth line between Cole Koepke and John Beecher for a good portion of the campaign, a unit that’s controlled 65% of expected goals in 168 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. Among forward lines with at least 150 minutes of ice time this season, that Koepke-Kastelic-Beecher line has yielded just 1.25 xGA/60, the best in the league by a significant margin.

It would be shocking if that play keeps up on a year-to-year basis, but it’s still rightfully earned Kastelic a multi-year commitment to stick with a situation that’s been a win for both sides so far. Kastelic avoids reaching restricted free agency next summer and will walk to unrestricted free agency upon expiry in 2028.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Bruins Recall Jeffrey Viel

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The Bruins promoted winger Jeffrey Viel from AHL Providence on Monday, per a team announcement. Boston had an open roster spot after reassigning Riley Tufte on Sunday, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.

Viel, 27, is in his first season in the Bruins organization. The 6’2″, 205-lb power forward signed a two-year, partial two-way deal in free agency over the summer after spending the first six seasons of his professional career in the Sharks and Jets systems.

The Quebec native is expected to play his first NHL game in 19 months tonight against the Blue Jackets, per Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub. He’ll slot in a fourth-line role at left wing alongside John Beecher and Tyler Johnson while Mark Kastelic comes out due to a lower-body injury, and Cole Koepke serves as a healthy scratch despite being fourth on the Bruins in scoring with eight points (4 G, 4 A) in 19 games. There’s hope Kastelic could return for Thursday’s game against Utah, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports, so Viel’s stint in the lineup could be a short one.

While Viel spent last year with Winnipeg, he didn’t see NHL ice and spent the entire 2023-24 season on assignment to AHL Manitoba. All of his 49 career NHL games came in a Sharks uniform. He recorded three goals and two assists for five points with a -9 rating and 139 PIMs in parts of three seasons. He averaged 8:29 per game in San Jose and controlled 43.6% of shot attempts at even strength.

Viel has routinely blended strong physical play and frequent fights with decent scoring numbers in the minors, making him an attractive power winger option for NHL clubs looking to add some skill and protection for their younger prospects at the AHL level. His production hasn’t come alive with Providence yet, though, limited to two goals and two assists in 14 games.

Viel passed through waivers unclaimed at the beginning of the season. He can remain on Boston’s roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he needs them again to return to Providence. The first season of his contract carries a two-way structure, so the recall represents a significant pay bump to $775K from his $375K minors salary.

Morning Notes: Peeke, Pionk, Goncalves, Kastelic, Tufte

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The Boston Bruins will soon receive some relief on the blue-line, with defenseman Andrew Peeke returning to the team’s practices per Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. Peeke hasn’t played since leaving Boston’s November 5th match against Toronto following a hit from Max Pacioretty that seemed to bounce Peeke’s shoulder awkwardly off the boards. He was ruled out week-to-week with an upper-body injury soon after, though participating in practice marks a big step in his path back to the lineup. Peeke isn’t expected to play in Boston’s Monday game against Columbus but could suit up when the team hosts Utah on Thursday.

Peeke was joined on the shelf by Hampus Lindholm, who’s week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The pair of absences quickly drained Boston’s top-four of its impactful, defensive stalwarts. Peeke rotated through the lineup when healthy, serving anywhere from 13 minutes in a sheltered role to 20 minutes on the top pair. He’s recorded two assists, 18 hits, and 21 blocked shots in 13 games. While not a thrilling stat line, Boston has felt every bit of Peeke’s absence – averaging the fifth-highest goals-against per-game (3.60 in five games) since he left the lineup. Upcoming matchups against Columbus, Utah, and Detroit should give Boston a chance to ease Peeke back into the lineup.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk has been fined $5K, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, for “clipping” Florida Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist on Saturday. Pionk went in for a hip-check but caught more of Boqvist’s knee than anything else. No penalty was issued for the hit. Boqvist nursed his left-knee for a while, but didn’t need helped off the ice. Pionk played 20 minutes in the 5-0 loss, going without any major stat changes – but still boasting 17 points in 18 games this season. He’ll continue to be a main fixture of the Jets lineup – and likely continue delivering heavy hip-checks – after avoiding suspension here.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have once again assigned forward Gage Goncalves to the minor leagues, after he stepped into a third-line role in the team’s Saturday night win over New Jersey. Goncalves played a career-high 15:32 worth of ice time in the outing, though he only put up two hits and one shot. Goncalves has yet to record his first NHL point, despite four appearances this year and two last year. He’ll return to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, where he’s already posted six assists in five games – the only Crunch still scoring above a point-per-game pace.
  • The Boston Bruins received a couple more updates at Sunday’s practice, with forwards Mark Kastelic designated as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and Riley Tufte expected to be sent to the minor leagues per Steve Conroy. Tufte played in 7:46 of Boston’s Saturday overtime-loss to St. Louis, with a -2 his only stat change. Tufte has yet to record a point in three games this year, though he’s managed three points in 21 career NHL games while serving as a go-to call-up since 2021. Kastelic has been much more productive – posting seven points in 19 games this season – while still serving a fourth-line role.

Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Luongo, Harvey-Pinard, Kastelic, Johnson, Mermis

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without captain Auston Matthews for almost two weeks with a lower-body injury. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox argued that Matthews’ prolonged absence has opened some eyes in Toronto regarding the team’s center depth.

Toronto essentially moved every center up a line with John Tavares and Max Domi manning the top two lines. Fox believes that the Maple Leafs must upgrade their third line, which has usually been centered by Domi this season. He’s only managed six assists in 18 games this season and hasn’t scored a goal in the regular since April 6th, 2024.

If general manager Brad Treliving concurs with the assessment the team will have some options available for trade. Fox lists Brock Nelson, Mikael Granlund, Frank Vatrano, Nick Bjugstad, and Jake Evans as the likeliest options for the Maple Leafs to pursue with the former being undeniably the best option.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Earlier this week, Hall-of-Fame netminder Roberto Luongo met for an interview with former players Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette on the Spittin Chiclets podcast. In the interview, Luongo revealed that shortly after being acquired by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 offseason the Detroit Red Wings offered Luongo an offer sheet which would have been more than his eventual four-year, $27MM deal with the Canucks. The organization pivoted to veteran netminder Dominik Hasek who would help them capture their 11th Stanley Cup title a year later after being rejected by Luongo.
  • Eric Engels of Sportsnet reported that Montreal Canadiens forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard won’t return tonight but is close. Harvey-Pinard is continuing to recover from a broken leg that has put his start to the 2024-25 NHL season on pause. He hasn’t played meaningful hockey since last season scoring two goals and 10 points in 45 games for Montreal.
  • Boston Bruins forward Mark Kastelic left the team’s overtime loss against the St. Louis Blues today after skating in 5:18 of the action. Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe shared that Kastelic is expected to miss the next few days with a lower-body injury. Thankfully for Kastelic and the Bruins, the team doesn’t play again until their contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night meaning Kastelic could be an option.
  • One member of the Bruins organization who didn’t see any ice time this afternoon was veteran forward Tyler Johnson. Before puck drop, the team announced Johnson was out due to ’family reasons’ but would return to practice tomorrow. Johnson has gone scoreless in four games in Boston after signing a one-year contract with the organization two weeks ago.
  • Moving back to Toronto, defenseman Dakota Mermis skated this morning before practice according to David Alter of The Hockey News. Mermis, who has been on the team’s LTIR while recovering from jaw surgery, signed a one-year, $775K contract with the Maple Leafs this past offseason.

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